The result of an unlikely encounter of two alumni of the same Venezuelan school has led to the creation of the first rum distillery in Cambodia.

López de Haro started the distillery in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, with Daniel Pacheco, both Venezuelans, and Diego Wilkins, from Uruguay.

The magic is born after longing for Caribbean rum and discovering that, despite having locally all that is needed to create a good rum, such as an abundance of sugarcane, Cambodians were not yet lucky to have their own rum.

Rum in Cambodia was used mainly to mix cocktails and the only known brands were Bacardi and Havana Club. People were not used to their taste, they preferred whiskey, rice wine or even sugarcane juice.

As of 2014 this changed. Without previous experience, the entrepreneurs launched the project only with the resources of nostalgia, intuition and their taste memories. This is how Samai Distillery and the first Cambodian rum (with Latin essence) were born.

Samai offers three categories: Samai Gold, Samai PX Limited Edition aged in ex-Pedro Ximenez barrels and Kambot Pepper rum with local pepper that emits scents of guava and eucalyptus.

It is located in 50 outlets in Cambodia and 12 small stores. It exports to France and Singapore, and now wishes to conquer Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and Spain.

Samai rum is a premium quality product and has won a double gold medal at the International Rum Congress in Madrid, and bronze at the International Spirit Challenge in London.

 

 

Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.

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